The invention relates to icings for food products with improved processing characteristics. The improved icings are suitable for use on products during moderate amounts of reheating.
Food consumers are increasingly demanding high quality food products that are nevertheless convenient and simple to prepare. In particular, there is increasing consumer demand for high quality food products, such as breakfast foods, that require minimal amounts of preparation time. Thus, a variety of prepared foods are provided to consumers in a frozen form for consumption following thawing and/or reheating. Desired products include bakery products, such as cakes, sweet rolls, pastries, waffles, and the like, for consumption as breakfast foods, snack items or dessert products. These products preferably are stored and distributed without significantly diminishing the quality of the food item.
While freezing is a convenient method of storing high quality food items, products can undergo undesirable changes during frozen storage. Also, thawing of the product can lead to modifications of the product that are undesirable. Similarly, when examining the suitability of a frozen product for distribution to consumers, the possibility of the product undergoing one or more cycles of freezing and thawing should be considered as a possible outcome. Freeze-thaw cycles tend to promote significant changes in the consistency of food items.
In particular, frozen products, such as icings, with very high concentrations of sugar and a moderate moisture content can undergo undesirable changes upon frozen storage and/or upon thawing. For products with moist icings, undesirable changes in the appearance of the icing during frozen storage have been attributed to the formation of crystals of hydrated sucrose, which can form from a saturated aqueous sucrose solution. Icings with high sucrose concentrations can also attract moisture, which can collect on the surface of the icing. This moisture build-up is termed weeping.
In a first aspect, the invention pertains to an icing composition including at least about 10 percent by weight water, at least about 0.1 percent by weight gelling agent and at least about 5 percent by weight of a low solubility sugar, the low solubility sugar having a solubility in water of less than about 40 weight percent at 20xc2x0 C. The icing composition can be applied to various food products such as a cake and a waffle.
In another aspect, the invention pertains to an icing composition including at least about 10 percent by weight sweetener and at least about 0.1 percent by weight gelling agent, the icing composition having a cooling shear modulus of about 1000 Pa at a temperature less than about 100xc2x0 F. (37.8xc2x0 C.) and a heating shear modulus of about 1000 Pa at a temperature greater than about 165xc2x0 F. (73.9xc2x0 C.), where the heating shear modulus is measured after at least about 12 hours at a temperature less than about 32xc2x0 F.
In a further aspect, the invention pertains to a method of forming an iced food product, the method comprising:
forming an icing by dispersing a gelling agent and dissolving a low solubility sweetener in heated water; and
spreading the icing on a food product base.
Generally, iced food products suitable for toaster reheating can be prepared with the improved icings. Typically, the surface of the food product reaches about 200xc2x0 F. to about 350xc2x0 F. during a 1.0 to 3.0 minute toasting cycle. Moreover, the invention pertains to a method of preparing an iced food product for consumption, the method comprising heating the iced food product at an oven temperature from about 250xc2x0 F. to about 350xc2x0 F. for a time from about 5 minutes to about 40 minutes, wherein the icing does not substantially change appearance during the heating process.